The Well in the Wilderness: Hagar's Hope

Hagar's is such a painful story with no innocent parties. Certainly, Abram is not without blame. His act of taking Hagar as his wife was not a choice consistent with faith. We have no record of him consulting the Lord in such an extremely awkward and monumental decision. Undoubtedly, Sarai would seem most to blame, and yet, still childless at age seventy-five, she ached to hold Abram's child in her arms, even if that child was not her own. And, even though we cannot read the narrative without a sense of shock and horror rippling through our veins, Sarai's proposal was neither illegal nor immoral in her culture. She must have thought about her solution to Abram's heirless state a long time.

But when everything goes wrong, apparently even Sarai's perception of Abram's altered affections, we reach the conclusion that disaster ensues when we adulterate the promises of God with the norms of culture. If in Isaac (who is yet to be named or even identified) the whole earth would be blessed, we might argue that in Ishmael the whole earth would be cursed. And yet this is not what happens. God did not curse Abram's descendants through Ishmael, and Hagar's story reveals how personal is her hope in this time of crisis in which she appeared to have virtually no voice at all.

Why did God bless Hagar? God's promise to bless Abram extended to all his descendants. In the Abrahamic blessing, the Lord promises to bless those who bless Abram and to curse those who curse him (Genesis 12:3). The best way for God to bless Abram in this, his biggest mistake to date, is to bless Hagar and their son. As do all blessings, we believe this one came as an answer to prayer. Without a doubt, Abram began praying for his unborn child and for Hagar, his new second wife, the minute she ran away. Well he knew the dangers of a serpent-infested wilderness, and for a woman alone--a woman carrying an unborn child--the journey was unthinkable. The sun alone would slay them in a short time. And where would Hagar find a source of water before she died of thirst? Thus must Abram's mind have silently traced her every move, following her with his thoughts and prayers, even as Sarai heaved her heavy sighs of resentment and relief.

So, on Hagar goes, trudging along mile after mile, alone in the untamed wilderness, her own legs feeling heavier and heavier with every step, until she stops to rest at a spring along the way to Shur, en route to her home country, Egypt. Water in the wilderness! What a relief! We can picture with what abandon Hagar embraces this natural spring, falling headlong perhaps, splashing her face, her neck, her arms, to rinse away the grimy sweat of travel. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she hears someone calling her name. Taken completely off guard, this despairing yet defiant woman sits bolt upright in fear and alertness, adrenaline reinvigorating her veins. Who is this? An angel??! Why she, of all people, should encounter an angel is beyond her imagination. We can imagine the times she might have secretly sneered at Abram's and Sarai's prayers, perhaps disbelieving there even was a God.

And here Hagar sits, face to face with One we know as the Angel of the LORD, a preincarnate form of Christ, and, incidentally, the first visitation by an angel in the Bible. What did she do to deserve this? Hagar has to have known she was not innocent, victim though she be. She who had no voice prior to conceiving Abram's long-awaited child had lifted up her voice afterwards to despise her mistress's most vulnerable pain. This was unkind indeed. Has the Lord come to punish her? Will He take sides? The narrative is fascinating in its stark directness. "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?" (Genesis 16:8).

The Lord identifies Hagar not only by name but also by social status--"Sarai's maid"--before He questions her origin and destination. Pain washes over her. Running away has changed nothing. In this fact, the Lord sides with Sarai. But He is right. It is true. What else does the Lord know? Shaking with the strange relief of being found, Hagar almost eagerly steadies herself to answer. Like the woman at Jacob's Well centuries later, she answers the Lord honestly. She tells Him exactly what happened. And we can be sure she finds healing in voicing the truth from which she has been running away.

After identifying Hagar, God instructs her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand" (Genesis 16:9). Again, the Lord seems to side with Sarai. Hagar stiffens. Her eyes flash. She lifts her chin. Not a chance! We can hear her thinking, I'll die first! But what's this? The Lord's voice continues, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude" (Genesis 16:10). Hagar drinks this in. Wait, isn't this the same promise Abram is always talking about? Does that mean all this will happen for him and Sarai, exactly as she wanted?

No, wait a minute. The Lord said, "your." Hagar's mind races as she replays the Lord's words once more in her head. This can only mean one thing: her child will not be Sarai's son; it will be her son. She will possess her own child. This is unfathomable, for the entire reason she conceived a child in the first place was to bear a son for Sarai, her mistress. But, wait. There's a catch: she must face her old identity as Sarai's maid. No, she won't do it. Sarai is mean and hateful. It will never work.

She looks at the Angel. He looks at her. She blinks. He doesn't blink. No, wait. This isn't a catch; it's a condition, maybe even a compromise: she will face her old identity as Sarai's maid, yes, but with a new identity as her own son's mother. The Lord is on her side, after all. He drives a hard bargain, but He understands the root of her rebellion. Yes, she must return to civilization, but she returns with her very own promise for her very own child! What a long, cool drink of water this is! So, I'm not going to die! I'm not even going to be punished! My descendants will thrive throughout the history of time itself! Thus, the Lord inspires and increases Hagar.

It all washes over her once more. So, this will be my son, Abram's and my son, not Sarai's and Abram's son! How gently God includes Hagar in His mercy and also identifies her son by name: "Ishmael--because the LORD has heard your affliction" (Genesis 16:11). By this point, Hagar's face is streaked with tears. She collapses in wave after wave of God's redeeming love. Her very own son will forever be named by her encounter with God! As long as she lives, she will remember this moment from her miserable past. But the Lord who found her in the wilderness near a spring has given her a promise like an artesian well. She will never thirst again, for she cannot call her son for dinner without remembering how he got his name.

And Hagar now takes a turn. She names the Lord, "You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees," and asks herself a question, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?" (Genesis 16:13). We cannot help embracing the pathos as we see this woman finding new dignity in the universe. And in her wonderment, Hagar names the spring, Beer-Lahai-roi, "Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me" (Genesis 16:14). How would she answer the Lord's great questions of philosophy now? To the question, "Where have you come from?" she may forever answer, "From an encounter with God in the wilderness!" And this encounter will refresh her spirit the rest of her life--if she lets it. "Where are you going?" How sadly we wish we could say, "To stay with Abram and Sarai," but we know Genesis 21 shows a very different turn.

Yet, meanwhile, Hagar carries her son and her promise back to the daily grind. We can only imagine the look on Sarai's face when she sees the look on Hagar's face--a new look of dignity, purpose, and hope. Even so, we cannot imagine the daily miracles of grace this household will demand for each of them to carry on in civility and good will. Did Hagar indeed transform her Valley of Baca into a well, going from strength to strength in the promises of God (Psalm 84:6-7)? Thirteen silent years will pass before Abram himself will hear from the Lord, but we may infer that Hagar told him her entire story, for he named their son Ishmael, exactly as the Lord had said.

And what of us? Are we running away in a wilderness of our own making? Or have we found Hagar's well of hope in the promises of God, no matter our station in life, no matter the complexity of our choices? If we have, we can say with the Psalmist, "All my springs are in You" (Psalm 87:7). We can rejoice with Isaiah as we draw water from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3). And when we, like Hagar, find ourselves in dire need of another well in the wilderness (Genesis 21), let us remember what we learned from the first well and return to our place of humble submission to the God Who Sees it all.